1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to financial transactions, more particularly to certifying transactions, and still more particularly to certifying electronic mortgage documents against corresponding paper documents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Borrowers often use lenders to finance real estate transactions in the primary mortgage market. A mortgage loan closing may involve a property sale, or a refinancing of an owned property. Where there is a property sale, a typical mortgage loan closing can involve a buyer, seller, and lender. The lender loans funds to the buyer, and disburses them to the seller to complete the transaction. The buyer signs a promissory note (also referred to as a mortgage note) that obligates the buyer to repay the loaned funds. The buyer is thus often referred to as the borrower in the mortgage loan closing transaction.
Lenders sell mortgages to investors in what is known as the secondary mortgage market. Examples of investors include government sponsored entities (GSEs) such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. Investors also include commercial banks, community banks, savings and loan associations, and others. Some of these entities participate as both lenders and investors at various times. That is, they both sell and purchase portfolios of mortgages. Similar mortgages are also often pooled together and used to as security for investment instruments referred to as form mortgage-backed securities.
A problem with the sale of loans in a secondary market is the lag time between the original acquisition of the mortgage by the lender (e.g., at the closing) and the sale of the mortgage to the investor.
Electronic documents are being introduced for mortgage transactions. Use of these documents can be beneficial to participants in such markets because they can reduce the amount of physical error checking that is often required for paper documents, as well as the number of opportunities for creating discrepancies and errors among and between the various forms used by different participants. However, even where a lender uses electronic documents, a typical closing will still often implement traditional paper based practices, wherein borrowers sign standard paper forms using pen and ink (also referred to as “wet” signing in the industry). Where such a mortgage is later sold to a secondary market investor, since traditional paper forms are used, traditional delays in providing funds to lenders pursuant to the mortgage purchase by the investor have remained.
What is needed is expedited sale of mortgage loans on the secondary mortgage market following closing of such mortgage loans.